Future and Present Sandy Programs Targeting Adults with Disabilities
By Abby Haney
Sandy Historical Society in the past few months have received numerous grants to further their progress at the museum and achieve their goal of being a resource and support the community. One of their most recent donations they received was the Beverly D. Moffatt Fund of Oregon Community Foundation. With this additional revenue, the Historical Society is able to begin a new program: a volunteer program for adults with disabilities.
The Sandy Public Library currently has an arts and crafts program for adults with disabilities: Creation Station. Creation Station began in 2023 with Library Assistant Katie Murphy for the Sandy Public Library. Murphy noticed the love adults with developmental disabilities had for the library, with visits four times a week. To expand their offerings towards them, Murphy wanted a program aimed for their needs.
“I felt like we should have some programming for these guys,” Murphy said. “Nobody really was taking it on, and I thought ‘why don’t I just offer to do it?’ I’m the one who’s passionate about it and so that’s why I started it, to provide an opportunity for something more structured than just hanging out at the library.”
Creation Station is a twice a month program. The second Monday of the month is called “Art Lab” with arts and crafts programs. The fourth Monday of the month is “Maker Lab” with focus on STEM activities.
“I usually offer four different activities each time so that there’s different levels and different interests,” Murphy said.
In both programs, there are four tables of different activities to choose from. After working the program for three years, Murphy has discovered interest that many enjoy and consistently put out; coloring is always offered during Art Lab and puzzles for Maker Lab.
“I’ve really gotten to know people better and their levels and their interest and how to encourage them to try things and what I need to always have,” Murphy said.
The program remains similar from its beginning in 2023, having few changes. However, moving forward, Murphy wants more special events and guests. Previously, an art teacher and acting teacher have joined to teach classes, Murphy observing positive responses.
“We had an acting teacher come in once which was super fun. They did little improv activities which went way better than I anticipated. So I’d like to have more special guests,” Murphy said.
Along with the program is an art show. The art show started last year and was a success, Murphy wanting to provide it again this year due to its positive feedback. Participants can create their pieces during one of the creation station programs or at home and submit it for the theme of animals-real and imagined.
“The art show is something I did last year and it was so much fun we decided to do it again," Murphy said. “[The art] gets displayed on the art wall and it’s really nice.”
Sandy Historical Society Museum Director Nicole O’Neill was inspired by this program at the library. O’Neill wanted to support these communities as well and offer additional support in a different environment.
“There are a lot of members of our community with disabilities with meaningful ways to engage,” O’Neil said.
Currently, the museum has numerous visitors of adults with disabilities. The space is welcoming for them and the museum goal is to continue building that environment for them, this grant assisting in this goal.
One organization Sandy Historical Society is closely working with, and is assisting them in their project, is Oregon Providers. Oregon Providers is a Sandy agency focused on supporting people with disabilities so ultimately, they can live an empowering, self-directed life.
The Volunteer Inclusive Program itself would include the work of maintaining landscape, greeting and gaining info for museum guests, scanning for museum digitization and assessing artifacts. Each of these would build skills for usage in the world.
“With the development of an inclusive volunteer program the museum will assume a provider role in the community as well,” O’Neill said.
The Sandy Historical Society is working diligently to provide adults with disabilities a new opportunity. The Sandy Public Library also has resources and welcomes anyone in their space. Explore both of these programs to get involved and discover new interesting possibilities. The museum is hosting an open house on Feb. 25 for the public to learn more about the upcoming program.
Abby Haney is the Editor-In-Chief at Sandy High School for the Pioneer Press and is a writer at large for The Sandy Historical Society and The Sandy Standard.
